Saturday, June 28, 2008

Tips on Fuel Saving

  1. Pump petrol at night or in the early mornings. The temperature is cooler at these times so the molecules of the petrol are shrunk. This means you get slightly more petrol for the amount you are paying. If you really want to get everything, then lift up the hose so that ever single drop is not left in the hose.
  2. Service you car regularly. A well maintained car means it is performing at its best. 
  3. Be careful with your right leg.  This is both for the throttle and the brakes. Throttle on moderation as excessive throttling will obviously mean using more petrol. Avoid braking suddenly and braking often. As you car moves, the petrol and air mixture will change. After a certain amount of cruising, there will be more air in the mixture than petrol.  When you brake, this same amount won't be sufficient to keep the engine running, so the computers will change the mixture to more petrol to ensure the engine doesn't die. 
  4. Check you tires often. Make sure there is enough air in them. As less air will make the car drag itself, which means the engine has to pump in more petrol to keep up with the demand. Also look into fuel economy tires. These tires have specially designed threads to have less resistance. Keep in mind for you drivers that want performance. These tires are not for you. 
  5. Plan your routes. Knowing your routes well will help you save on fuel. Know which road will be more efficient for you with consideration of time and money. Some roads might be longer but remember cars use less petrol while cruising at a constant speed. Avoid getting stuck in jams as this is a major reason for fuel waste. 
  6. Clean up your car. See those random things lying around in the car? Get rid of them if they are not essential. Might not seem like much, but these things might amount to a considerate weight.  The heavier the car is, the more the engine has to put out to cope with it. 
  7. Use good car batteries. Find car batteries that takes less time to charge.  When the battery is charging, it is stressing out the engine which means again, more petrol use. Having a battery that requires less time charging means your engine won't be stressed.
  8. Speed up before a hill or incline. Building up speed before going up a hill will save fuel. If you start throttling once you reach the bottom of the hill, again, more petrol use as the engine needs to cope up.
  9. Wash and wax. Keeping the exterior of your car clean does help improve your fuel economy. Amazingly.
  10. Use the highest gears if possible. Lower gears are set for performance while higher ones are set for economy. If you car is equipped with cruise control, this will be a gem to help you save up on fuel.
  11. Aircond vs windows. Air conditioning uses stresses the engine. So think every time you switch it on. If you are driving at low speed or around town, its better to drive with the windows down. Once at highway speeds, just switch on the ac.
  12. Avoid idling the car for too long. Cars consume on most cars a mixture ratio of 9:1 of petrol and air while idling. Its best to switch if off then restarting it again later.
  13. Warm up the engine. Not only is this good for the lifespan of the engine, but it saves fuel as engines use up more fuel when its cold compared to when its warm. 

Friday, June 27, 2008

Snake Force

I've come up with a good explanation to why I can't snake properly anymore.

Are you familiar with The Flash? You know, the fast superhero, in red spandex?
Yea, that guy. You see, in the comics, The Flashes get their power from the Speed Force.
With out the Speed Force, they would be powerless. 

So this is how my explanation goes. The ones that snake are Lavan, Wengs and I. 
At the current moment, only Lavan can snake consistently. Wengs and I, well you get the idea.
Wengs is still better than me though. I believe there is a Snake Force, and I believe currently that Lavan is using all of it. Hence why the other two can't snake for nuts.


Monday, June 23, 2008

Saturday

On Saturday, Lavan and I were supposed to go to gym for our workout. The night before we decided to go at 11 am.

1135am the next day...

I messaged Lavan while still lying down in bed

Me: Are you up yet?
Lavan: Can't move.Still sleeping.
Me: Good. I'm still sleeping too.
Lavan: Tiu. we're hopeless.zzZz....

Ahahahahaha. We are hopeless .__."

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Thoughts

It has been like what? 3 weeks since the price hike of petrol prices? Many have criticized this move made my the government. A 70 cent increase from the previous price. Or a rough estimation of 40% increase. This increase has indeed put a strain and burden on everyone. The effects of petrol going up is also felt in other means of items and services. Food is slightly more expensive. Services charge extra nowadays. 

The government used to spend 17 BILLION, note the caps, on subsidies on petrol goods. Apparently, they are pulling back the subsidies to use the money for betterment of the nation. So far they are planning on improving the public transportation system, which so far I only know of the expansion of the LRT/PUTRA rail system. The government is now 17 billion richer.  But one can only wonder, why did the government take away our subsidies, and the next day decide to rebate us from the road tax? Hold on for a moment. I know you will say that it will lighten the burden even though not much but lets try seeing it from another way.

It is mentioned that this rebate system will give back to the people in a rough estimation of 5 Billion. Get the picture yet? No? Let me explain. The government took from us 17 billion, and gave us back 5 billion. Why not just take 12 billion from the start? Wouldn't that be and easier solution and less of a burden to us Rakyats? IF they had done that, the petrol increase would have only been about 30-40 cents. 

We all know that we can get our rebates for the road tax from any post office. Question is, why the post office? You have to bring your car grant, which at times even JPJ can't know if its fake or real, and now we're taking it to the post office where the staff have no idea what so ever about these documents? Wouldn't this be more susceptible to fraud? And we're not talking about small amounts of money here. This gives these crooks a place to gain access to a part of the 5 billion. Why not the bank? Why not JPJ offices? Where the staff are more trained and skilled.

Which brings me to the whole problem, why did our petrol prices have to go up? The government says that they need money to fund projects to make Malaysia a better place. Isn't there other places to get back the money? Why not enforce tax collection?  A lot of businesses and individuals evade tax payments. If I'm not mistaken, our annual tax collection is 50 billion. Mind you this with all these people evading and cutting taxes. If the government had better enforcement, I'm pretty sure they would at least be able to collect double the amount collected now. They said that the petrol prices have to go up because of the increase in crude oil prices in the international market. Which cost around 130 USD per barrel? Problem is, WE ARE AN OIL PRODUCING NATION.  We export our crude oil and import lower grade ones for our consumption. It is refined right here on Malaysian shores. And remember, the per barrel prices, are for CRUDE oil, not petrol. Say if this really affects our production of petrol, lets do a bit of maths. A barrel contains 158 liters of crude oil. So with it being 130 USD( lets just take a 4 ringgit exchange for 1 usd) it will cost about 520 ringgit per barrel. Which makes it about 3ringgit per liter. Keep in mind a barrel of crude oil can make about 78 liters of petrol and other by products.We are exporting our oil which we get money from and we import a smaller amount for our own usage. Naturally won't we earn more than enough for us to pay the cost of importing it? What about the taxes companies like Exxon or Shell have been paying?  Other oil producing nations have petrol prices under 1 dollar in their own currency. Oh yea, I think Petronas' annual profit was in the news last few days, I think it was 70 billion. So some one tell me why we can't afford to subsidize the petrol for the Rakyat then? Like I said, there's many other ways the government can find income with out burdening the general public.

After jacking up the petrol prices suddenly, the government tells shops and services not to increase their prices. Are they insane? Everything needs transportation. And transportation needs petrol. Is it fair for these people to keep the same prices and earn less? And the government can tell us to change our life styles. And what? Not eat rice? Not eat chicken? Not use lights or fans in the house? How can they ask us to change our life styles when what's affected is essentials of the society. Every single price increase is affected by the increase in petrol. 

I'm sure you all know our electrical tariffs are up together with the petrol prices. Apparently, TNB can't sustain it self at the same rate. After the tariff hike, guess what TNB did. Senior management got a salary increase of 100%! If they can't afford, shouldn't they be cutting down cost instead? AND the salaries of the CEOs of the GLC companies. Dato' Nazir of CIMB bank, earns 9 million a year. AND WE ARE PAYING FOR IT. Maybank is a bigger bank and it's CEO earns about 3 million a year, from us the Rakyat too. But 9 million a year ? Ridiculous! No wonder the government doesn't have money. 

The current government has been in seat for 3 years. Petronas earns about 60 Billion a year. SO thats 180 Billion. Wonder where has that gone. And this recent 17 billion. Wonder where its going now. 

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Viva La Vida

Someone please bring me to a Coldplay concert. PLEASE!


Or someone make them come and perform in MALAYSIAAAAA! T_T

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Light Streaks

The days seem to go on endlessly

The nights seem to short
Yet I am still here
Still, in between time and space
Waiting for something unknown

Able is my body
Yet weak is my will
Pushing through the days with effort
When there is only an empty road ahead

Refuge seems far and distant
Cold stares and empty conversations
With only the bustling sounds of the city to fill in the gaps
Where is that which I seek? 

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Bze Cafe